Russia signs Georgia ceasefire deal

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has signed the ceasefire agreement faxed to him by US diplomats, formally ending hostilities with Georgia.

Georgia’s President Mikheil Saakashvili put pen to paper yesterday on the deal, which had already been signed by separatist leaders in the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The document was drawn up by France in its capacity as holder of the rotating EU presidency.

The six-point agreement requires Russian troops to leave Georgia immediately and withdraw to positions they held in the breakaway regions before the conflict escalated last Friday.